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Pensioner's neighbour denies involvement in hammer murder

Judith Richardson was bludgeoned to death in her home in Hexham last August. Photo: Northumbria Police

An elderly neighbour of the murdered pensioner, Judith Richardson, who picked up the hammer believed to be the murder weapon, has given evidence in court.

In a dramatic development, Edward Brewis, 85, who was thought to be too ill to appear, arrived by ambulance from his hospital bed to answer questions. He is due to have a hip operation on Wednesday.

On the day of Miss Richardson's murder, he says he found a hammer in an Aldi carrier bag outside his brother's house on the same street in Hexham. He later told police he'd taken it home, before returning it two days later, close to where he found it.

But Mr Brewis was asked by lawyers for Graeme Jarman, the defendant in the case, why he'd failed initially to tell officers about the hammer when he was arrested as a suspect in the days following the crime.

Using hearing aids in court, and at times struggling to hear the questions, he replied, "I don't know." He denied lying to detectives, telling the jury, "I told them all I knew."

When asked whether he'd had any involvement in the murder, he said, "I didn't do that, no."

Graeme Jarman is accused of tricking his way into Miss Richardson's home last August, and striking her with a hammer more than 30 times, bludgeoning her to death before stealing jewellery from her flat.